1.
Introduction
Borsa İstanbul A.Ş. (Borsa İstanbul), with roots dating
back to 1873, ensures fair and well-organized trading of
securities, derivatives, precious metals and diamonds as
the primary exchange of Türkiye. Borsa İstanbul is
integrated with post-trade institutions İstanbul Takas ve
Saklama Bankası A.Ş. - Takasbank (Central Counterparty -
CCP) and Merkezi Kayıt Kuruluşu A.Ş. - MKK (Central
Securities Depository). Borsa İstanbul, Takasbank and
MKK all together constitute Borsa İstanbul Group.
Through its integrated pre-trade, trade and post-trade
structures, cutting edge technology and diverse product
range, Borsa İstanbul Group provides investors with
www.borsaistanbul.com
a modern and highly liquid trading platform based on
international standards and best practices. Borsa İstanbul
Group facilitates access for investors to Turkish capital
markets and provides them with tools to hedge perceived
risks. Türkiye's fast growing economy, strong financial and
real sector with access to large domestic and regional
markets, geographic proximity to Europe, Middle East and
Asia, liberal investment climate with robust investor
protection are just a few of the key factors that make it an
attractive destination for investment. Turkish capital
markets are preferred by the most renowned investors
from all around the world.
PAGE | 01
Empowered by the Capital Markets Law, enacted in 1981, the Capital Markets Board of Türkiye (CMB) is the responsible
regulatory and supervisory authority. CMB takes the necessary measures to foster the development of capital markets and
contribute to the efficient allocation of financial resources while ensuring investor protection.

Borsa İstanbul operates four main markets; Equity Market, Debt Securities Market, Derivatives Market, and Precious
Metals & Diamond Markets. In 2021, Borsa İstanbul had the highest turnover velocity among all the members of the World
Federation of Exchanges (WFE), ranked first in single stock futures and precious metals futures trading volume, third in
terms of the number of new listings for private market debt securities, and ranked tenth in value of bonds listed (WFE
annual statistics). Almost 50% of the free float market cap of companies in BIST30, the blue chip index, is held in custody
by foreign investors. Borsa İstanbul has been accredited by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) as a
third country trading venue, and it is a Member of the Board at WFE, the global industry group for exchanges and clearing
houses around the world. Borsa İstanbul also performs the secretariat function for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
(OIC) Exchanges Forum, the umbrella organization for fifty nine exchanges and twenty two central securities depositories
in OIC. Borsa İstanbul is also a member of the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), the World Federation of
Diamond Bourses (WFDB), the Intermarket Surveillance Group (ISG), the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSE), and
SSE Derivatives Exchanges Advisory Group.

Takasbank operates as the central counterparty (CCP) on Borsa İstanbul's Equity Market, Debt Securities Market (including
Swap Market and Money Market Excluding non-bank corporate bonds) and Derivatives Market. Takasbank also provides
CCP services for Securities Lending Market and over-the-counter derivatives transactions that take place between the
banks. Takasbank complies with International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) financial market infrastruc-
ture principles, and European Union regulations & technical standards. Takasbank is also a member of WFE, The European
Association of CCP Clearing Houses (EACH), and CCP12 (Global Association of CCPs).

MKK, the central securities depository, provides its members with depository, trade repository & reporting, corporate
governance and investor services. MKK also offers in-house developed data and technology systems and platforms to local
and foreign capital and financial markets as part of its role as an R&D center. MKK serves safekeeping of securities on a
beneficial owner basis and omnibus accounts, and provides global reach with its direct links with other CSDs. MKK, also
complies with the PFMI-IOSCO principles for CSDs and SSS, holds ISO 27001 Information Security and ISO 22301 Business
Continuity Management Certificates.

2. Equity Market
Borsa İstanbul Equity Market provides investment
opportunities to the most prominent companies of
the growing Turkish economy in various sectors.

PAGE | 02 www.borsaistanbul.com
 859

3,7
3,5

1,6 1,7
1,4 1,5

240,3
233,4

186,7
174,5
163,7
150,5

www.borsaistanbul.com PAGE | 03
Stocks, Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), Warrants, Certificates, Venture Capital Investment Funds, Real Estate
Investment Funds, and Real Estate Certif icates are traded at Borsa İstanbul Equity Market.

In order to facilitate the decision making process and
guide investors, market segments are defined based on
criteria including market capitalization, free float, and
liquidity among others. The main equity market segments
of Borsa İstanbul are Stars, Main and Submarket.
Trading on the Equity Market is carried out based on
price and time priority through (i) "continuous trading",
(ii) "continuous trading with market maker", and
(iii) "single price" trading methods, with a fully automated
electronic trading system. The clearing and settlement of
securities and cash regarding Borsa İstanbul Equity
Market are realized on T+2 basis.
Daily price limits are applied for stocks traded in the
Equity Market. Additionally, to reduce risks resulting
from market wide or stock specific price volatility, circuit
breakers are triggered if predetermined thresholds are
reached.

Borsa İstanbul Private Market is a web-based

platform launched in 2014, which brings start-up
companies and rising companies together with
qualified or business angel investors in order to buy
or sell shares without going public.

Products in the Equity Market

Exchange Venture Capital Real Estate Real Estate

Stocks Warrants Certificates
Traded Funds Investment Funds Investment Funds Certificates

PAGE | 04 www.borsaistanbul.com
 3. Debt Securities Market
Borsa İstanbul Debt Securities Market provides investment opportunities to the most prominent fixed
income assets issued by the Turkish Treasury and the private sector.

Some of the key metrics for the Debt Securities Market are depicted below:

10,7
9,9

1,960
6,5

2,6
1,8
1,4

1,08 1,21 1,13

Debt Securities Market is comprised of Outright Purchases and Sales Market, Offering Market for Qualified
Investors, Repo-Reverse Repo Market, Repo Market for Specified Securities, Equity Repo Market, International
Bonds Market, Committed Transactions Market, Watchlist Market, Money Market, and Swap Market.

Debt securities, securitized asset and income backed debt securities, lease certificates (Sukuk), liquidity bills
issued by the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye and other securities which are approved by Borsa İstanbul
Board of Directors, denominated in TRY and foreign currency can be traded at Debt Securities Market. General
collateral repo, special repo, committed transactions, money market and swap market segments also offer
investors the opportunity to trade in different products.

Trading is conducted electronically at Debt Securities Market via an automated multiple price-continuous
auction system.

Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye, banks and intermediary institutions, which are authorized to trade, can
carry out transactions at Debt Securities Market.

www.borsaistanbul.com PAGE | 05
Markets within Debt Securities Market

Outright Purchases and Sales Market | Secondary market transactions of debt securities

Repo-Reverse Repo Market | Repo-reverse repo transactions

Repo Market for Specified Securities | Repo-reverse repo transactions with specified debt securities

Equity Repo Market | Repo-reverse repo transactions with the shares of the companies included in
BIST 30 Index

Offering Market for Qualified Investors | Primary market for debt securities issued to “qualified
investors” as defined in capital market regulations

International Bonds Market | Foreign debt instruments issued by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance
and capital market instruments denominated in foreign currency within the scope of listing regulation
of Borsa İstanbul

Committed Transactions Market | Sale with a commitment to repurchase and purchase with
a commitment to the resale of predetermined capital market instruments with same day or forward
beginning value date

Watchlist Market | Capital market instruments that are previously traded at Outright Purchases and
Sales Market and decided to be traded at Watchlist Market pursuant to the Listing Regulations

Money Market | Collateralized money purchase and sale transactions by banks and intermediary
institutions with Turkish Lira fund supply and demand

Swap Market | Swap transactions aiming the exchange of different currencies with each other or
the exchange of currencies with precious metals within determined conditions

PAGE | 06 www.borsaistanbul.com
4. Derivatives Market
By creating a transparent and secure investment environment for domestic and foreign investors, the Derivatives
Market provides investors with opportunities such as hedging, portfolio diversification, leverage effect, effective
price formation and access to high liquidity.

Some of the key metrics for the Derivatives Market are depicted below:

490

2,0

1,6

1,1
0,9 1,0
0,8

Open Interest (Millions) 17,2

14,3

5,6

3,1 3,0
2,8

Stock index, single stock, currency, precious metals, energy, interest rate, foreign index
futures contracts and stock index, single stock, currency option contracts are traded at
Borsa İstanbul Derivatives Market. In order to see the contract specifications please visit
Borsa İstanbul website.

Derivatives Market normal session trading hours for normal days are between 09:30-18:10 for equity deriva-
tives and 09:30-18:15 for other instruments (local time, GMT+3). To integrate with international markets and
to allow investors to trade in the daytime session of foreign markets Borsa İstanbul also operates an evening
session at Derivatives Market covering continuous trading of BIST30 index futures, BIST liquid banks index
futures, BIST liquid 10 ex banks index futures, USD/Ounce gold and silver futures. The trading hours for the
evening session are 19:00-23:00 local time (GMT+3).

www.borsaistanbul.com PAGE | 07
Products in the Derivatives Market

Future Contracts
Stock Index (BIST 30, BIST Liquid Banks, BIST Liquid 10 ex Banks indices)

Single Stock (49 equities from BIST 100 Index)

Currency (FX) (six different currency pairs, USDTRY - including physical delivery -

EURTRY, EURUSD, RUBTRY, CNHTRY, GBPUSD)

Precious Metals (Gold ounce/dollar, Gold TRY/gram, Silver ounce/dollar,

Platinum ounce/dollar, Palladium ounce/dollar)

Energy (Electricity Base Load Contracts, monthly/quarterly/yearly)

Interest Rate (TLREF - Turkish Lira O/N Reference Rate)

Foreign Index (SASX 10 index)

Government Bond Futures (2, 5, and 10 year benchmark government bonds)

Underlying Assets of Option Contracts

Stock Index (BIST 30)

Single Stock (24 equities)

Currency (USDTRY - including physical delivery)

In addition to trading opportunities, investors may hedge their risk at the cash equity market through stock index
and single stock contracts. The Derivatives Market also offers efficient hedging tools for companies to manage
their currency risk. Besides, precious metals and energy futures meet different trading or hedging needs of inves-
tors.

All these different products may be reached by a single account at an intermediary institution. USDTRY currency
contracts are both settled in cash and physically delivered. Government bond futures and single stock contracts are
physically settled at maturity, while the other contracts are settled in cash. The contracts have standard
end-of-month expiry dates, however, the investors themselves may create flexible contracts by choosing maturity
date for futures and options and choosing strike price for options.

The positions are held and marked to market daily by Takasbank at the account level.
Risk management of the whole market is carried out by Takasbank through an effective
risk monitoring and collateral management system. Trades executed in the Market are
subject to portfolio based margining method. For further information regarding risk
management, margining or clearing issues visit Takasbank website.

Market making program in Derivatives Market includes revenue sharing scheme. Accordingly, for
some of the contracts traded, Borsa İstanbul shares a portion of the revenue coming from those
contracts with market makers who meet their obligations. The market makers have also connection
incentives. Further details of the market making program is available on the Borsa İstanbul website.

PAGE | 08 www.borsaistanbul.com
 5. Precious Metals and Diamond Markets
The Precious Metals and Diamond Markets comprises of Precious Metals Market, Precious Metal Lending
Market, and Diamond and Precious Stone Market.

Borsa İstanbul is a member of the London Bullion Market Association and the World Federation of Diamond
Bourses and is the competent authority for import and export of rough diamonds within the framework of
Kimberley Process Certification.

Borsa İstanbul works with OECD on responsible gold principles to ensure that the gold transactions
performed in the Precious Metals Market are in line with international standards. For further details
please visit Borsa İstanbul website.

BISTANTREPO is a bonded warehouse (customs free) where domestic and foreign institutions can store their
precious metals, especially gold, without being a member of Borsa İstanbul and physically transfer these metals
to Türkiye or regional countries when necessary.

Some of the key metrics for the Precious Metals and Diamond Markets are depicted below:

Average Daily Traded Value (USD Millions)

43

168,5

20
19 78,5
73,9
52,3
13
11 39,6 44,3
10

Precious Metals Market trading hours for normal days are between 16:10-23:45 and continue between
08:00-16:00 in next trading day local time (GMT+3). For further details please visit Borsa İstanbul website.

Markets within the Precious Metals and Diamond Markets

Precious Metals Market | spot trade of standard

Precious Metal Lending Market | lending transactions of
and non-standard gold, silver, platinum and palladi-
defined precious metals.
um metals, minimum fineness degrees are required
for standard products (995/1000 for gold, 99.9%
Diamond and Precious Stone Market | transactions of
for silver and 99.95% for both platinum and palla-
diamond and precious stones.
dium). For further details please visit Borsa İstanbul
website.

www.borsaistanbul.com PAGE | 09
6. BISTECH Technology

Borsa İstanbul invests in technology and enhances
system infrastructure on an ongoing basis to deliver the
highest global standards. As a result of the strategic
cooperation with NASDAQ, all Borsa İstanbul markets
migrated to BISTECH (based on GeniumINET) to serve
on a common trading platform and execute trade and
post-trade operations single handedly.
With the launch of BISTECH System since 2015, maxi-
mum process capacity reached 100.000 orders per
second and the round-trip latency decreased to micro-
seconds. Thanks to internationally known order entry
and data dissemination protocols of BISTECH, local and
international investors can access Borsa İstanbul markets
much more easily without incurring additional develop-
ment costs.

BISTECH Features:

Low Latency (Under normal conditions <100 microsecond)

Uptime (Continuous trading with system, equipment and location redundancy)

Multi-asset (Equities, derivatives, debt securities and precious metals products are in

the same platform)

Multi-platform (integrated trade, post-trade, risk management, market data, index

calculation, surveillance systems)

Standard Protocols (FIX and OUCH for order entry; ITCH and TIP for market data)

Co-location Service:
Borsa İstanbul Co-location service enables stakeholders to
place their equipment at Borsa İstanbul Data Center
where the market systems of Borsa İstanbul are also locat-
ed. Thereby market participants have the opportunity to
access the system in a faster and more reliable manner.

With its Co-location service Borsa İstanbul aims to reach

variety of market participants including Members,
HFT/Algo firms, Service providers that are seeking the
highest possible access speed.

For further information about co-location

services, business partners, and technical
resources please visit Borsa İstanbul
website.

PAGE | 10 www.borsaistanbul.com
7. First Time Investors

There are no restrictions on foreign portfolio investors
trading in the Turkish capital markets. Real persons and
legal entities residing abroad (including investment trusts
and investment funds abroad) can freely purchase and
sell all sorts of securities and other capital market instru-
ments.
Within this framework, foreign investors can participate
in Borsa İstanbul Derivatives Market for both trading and
hedging purposes. They can also trade precious metals in
Borsa İstanbul via precious metals market members.
In order to be able to invest in Borsa İstanbul Markets,
investors need to open securities accounts at investment
firms authorized by the Capital Markets Board of Türkiye.
Additionally, foreign investors may also invest through
their local investment banks or intermediary institutions
that have access to Borsa İstanbul Markets via opening
beneficial owner based accounts.
For Turkish government debt securities issued by the
Ministry of Treasury and Finance, foreign institutional
investors and foreign funds may use omnibus accounts
that can be opened at local custodian institutions (that
hold general custody license).
Contact information of investment firms
(intermediary institutions + banks + other
firms providing investment services and
activities) are available at Borsa İstanbul
website.

Funds overseen by professional portfolio managers could be utilized to diversify investment

portfolios. Detailed information on the historical performance of all available funds are
available at Türkiye Electronic Fund Trading Platform (TEFAS) website.

www.borsaistanbul.com PAGE | 11
8. Investor Services

Remote Participation in General Meetings (e-GEM):

Electronic General Meeting System (e-GEM) developed by MKK, enables shareholders to attend,
assign proxy and exercise their rights in General Assembly (GA) meetings and allows issuers to
handle the GA process from A to Z. It is legally mandatory for companies listed at Borsa İstanbul to
organize both physical and electronic meetings and provide their shareholders electronic means to
enable electronic attendance to meetings via MKK's e-GEM system. International investors may
attend general meetings of any listed company, watch the meeting live, express their opinions and
exercise their voting rights electronically through the e-GEM system safely in line with related inter-
national regulations.

Data Dissemination:
Borsa İstanbul market data are disseminated in real time, delayed and end of day basis through
Borsa İstanbul's licensed data vendors. In line with market needs, high quality data products have
been created and made available for the use of investors. In addition to the data related to Borsa
İstanbul markets, the data of some local institutions and non-local stock exchanges are also dis-
tributed by Borsa İstanbul.

Borsa İstanbul provides vendors with direct access to data center via BISTECH system, which is a
high quality technological infrastructure. Additionally, Borsa İstanbul data is available from the
access point (PoP) of Borsa İstanbul in London Equinix LD5 Data Center and on networks of the
authorized infrastructure providers.

PAGE | 12 www.borsaistanbul.com
9.Investor Rights, Corporate
Governance and Sustainability
Türkiye has a strong regulatory framework for corporate governance overseen by the
Capital Markets Board of Türkiye. Disclosure to the market by listed companies is
mandatory for certain corporate governance principles while an explanation is
required for non-mandatory areas. International standards for accounting and
auditing are in place.

MKK's Public Disclosure Platform (PDP), is an electronic system through which

electronically signed notifications required by the capital markets and Borsa İstan-
bul regulations are publicly disclosed. The system provides an access to reliable,
accurate, instantaneous, consistent and comprehensive information over the
World Wide Web simultaneously and at low costs. In addition to Borsa İstanbul
companies and ETFs, investment firms, portfolio management companies,
mutual funds, pension funds, real estate funds, venture capital investment
funds and foreign funds may also submit notifications to PDP. Independent
audit companies, on the other hand, send the electronically signed financial
statements for which independent audit is required, to the relevant company
electronically in order to be announced to the public.

Investors have the following rights, among others according to the relevant
regulation:

Obtaining and examining information (i.e. requesting

special audit)
Attending general assembly meetings
Voting rights
Minority rights
Dividend rights
Right issue
Bonus rights

Sustainability or environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk is

critically important for all entities in capital markets. Increased sensi-
tivity and expectations of investors have been helpful in facilitating
ESG reporting. In Türkiye, in addition to the corporate governance
principles, it is mandatory for publicly listed companies to explain
whether they comply with sustainability principles and if not
explain implications in terms of environmental and social risk
management. Borsa İstanbul Sustainability Index provides inves-
tors with a helpful tool in facilitating sustainability investments.
Borsa İstanbul also calculates Sustainability Participation Index
for investors who want to invest both on the themes of partici-
pation and sustainability.

www.borsaistanbul.com PAGE | 13
10. Investor Protection and
Market Surveillance
Investor Compensation Center intervenes when investment firms fail to fulfill their obligations to pay cash or
deliver capital market instruments originating from investment services or activities. The upper limit of the
amount (TRY 323.670 for 2022) to be paid to each investor is increased by the rate of re-appraisal each year.

Takasbank plays a very important role as a CCP by taking on counterparty credit risk between parties to a
transaction, i.e. by acting as buyer against seller and seller against buyer.

Assets of the funds are segregated from the assets of their
founders and portfolio custodians, which provides an
extra layer of security. The assets may not be used as
collateral or be pledged without a specific mandate. The
assets may not be attached including for the purpose of
collecting public receivables, may not be included in the
bankruptcy estate and may not be subject to cautionary
injunction.
Instrument and investor based measures are taken based
on either Volatility Based Measures System or Directive on
Surveillance Measures to protect investors from the risks
arising from extreme volatility, to ensure that exchange
transactions are conducted in secure, transparent,
efficient, stable, right, fair and competitive manner; to
prevent improper, fraudulent acts and violations; and to
prohibit illegal exchange transactions.

MKK is regarded as the Financial Accounts Center of Violations of capital market rules and legislation and
Türkiye and all investor accounts are fully segregated from market abuse actions are reported to the Capital Markets
that of intermediary institutions. Board of Türkiye. As per the regulation; insider trading,
manipulation and market abuse actions are subject to
Market surveillance activities are carried out with a proac- strict sanctions such as trading and settlement restrictions,
tive approach in order to ensure that markets operate in a fines and imprisonment.
reliable, transparent, efficient, fair, and stable manner.
Markets are monitored on a real-time basis using an
electronic surveillance system, unusual price and volume
movements are followed, and market distorting transac-
tions are detected.

PAGE | 14 www.borsaistanbul.com
11. Taxation
For most of the products traded at Borsa İstanbul, zero withholding tax is applied and no further declaration is required
for foreign investors. Some products with 0% withholding tax are as follows:

Capital gains of stocks (excluding securities investment companies),

Capital gains of gold-backed government debt instruments and their interest incomes,
Capital gains of Eurobonds issued by the Ministry of Treasury and Finance and their interest incomes,
Gains from warrants, futures and options contracts with underlying stocks or stock indices (for the other derivatives
products the tax rate is 10%),
Capital gains of participation certificates of stock-intensive funds (exchange traded funds and securities mutual funds)
Stock dividend incomes are subject to a 10% withholding tax.
Excluding dividend incomes of securities investment companies, real estate investment trusts, and venture capital
investment companies and funds, which are taxed at 0%
Lower tax rates may be applied as per related Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreements

Please note that exceptions may apply. For questions and further information investors may contact
Tax Communication Center via e-mail (infovimer@gelirler.gov.tr).

www.borsaistanbul.com PAGE | 15
 12. Official Information Resources
The flow of reliable and accurate information is of utmost importance for capital markets. Reliability, transparency and
investor protection are among the core principles of Borsa İstanbul. Official information on public disclosure, market
data, funds and data analysis platform for investors are available on the following websites:

The information pertaining

Public to the companies such
Disclosure as financial reports, news and Borsa İstanbul Data Bulletins and
Platform the official websites of the companies. Data market data

Detailed information
about mutual funds,
Türkiye Electronic pension funds and
BIST Borsa İstanbul’s historic Fund Trading Platform exchange traded funds
DataStore and reference data platform (TEFAS) (ETFs).

Depository data,
investor statictics,
The Data corporate governance
Analysis data and MKK indices
Platform in charts

PAGE | 16 www.borsaistanbul.com
Follow us on Social Media

For an updated version of this guide and other relevant materials please
visit Borsa İstanbul website.

Investors may access accurate and up-to-date information by following Borsa İstanbul on social media.
Through these platforms, Borsa İstanbul aims to improve financial literacy and raise awareness of capital
markets and financial instruments.

Contact
For questions or comments please send an
e-mail to International Relations Department
at ir@borsaistanbul.com